Told Ya’ So! Rabbi Rabbs Called It !!
- Updated: July 27, 2018
(Atticus Gates, no. 22, of Chula Vista’s Park View Little League rushes to embrace his teammate, pitcher Matt Bjornstad, after “Matty Ice” as he is called, pitched the final out Thursday night to give The Green Monsters the victory that vaulted them into Saturday’s Southern California Championship game to be held at Aliso Viejo Little League in Aliso Viejo. Photo courtesy of Jon Bigornia.)
I called it! When 10 teams remained alive right before the start of the 2018 Little League Southern California Championship tournament held at Aliso Viejo Little League in Aliso Viejo, Rabbi Rabbs picked out three of those 10, and proclaimed that those three were the cream of that crop. Well, it is a week later, and only three teams remain alive, and they include two of the three I had selected.
In Rabbi Rabbs Ranks SoCal’s Final 10, my top three rankings contained The Green Monsters of Chula Vista’s Park View Little League, and Huntington Beach’s Huntington Valley Little League. And guess what? Both of those super heavyweights have reached the final three. I nailed it! Not quite the entire trifecta, but close enough. If anyone picked out the exact three, they have my utmost respect, but I have a feeling no one did. Just a hunch.
As I had written in that article, “I am pretty good at picking Little League winners,” and now you have witnessed that with your very own eyes. And, if you have paid attention, CaliSports News has covered The Green Monsters and Huntington Valley for the past few weeks, almost to the exclusion of all of the other eight teams that reached the Aliso Viejo tournament.
You see, Rabbi Rabbs had foreseen weeks ago that the teams representing California District 42, and Southern California Section 10 were the heavy favorites to win the entire SoCal tournament. That is why CSN focused almost exclusively on the District 42 tournament and its champion, and the Section 10 tourney and winner. As such, having this crazy rabbi’s spot-on predictions is one of the many reasons CSN is SoCal’s undisputed leader in Little League coverage.
Now, here is another prediction: The Green Monsters will win the Aliso Viejo championship, and represent SoCal at next month’s West Region tournament to be held at Alfred E. Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino. Bank on it. I shall explain my reasoning, but first let us recap Thursday night’s action.
Let us start by focusing our attention on Park View which punched its ticket to Saturday’s finals by defeating Temple City National Little League of Temple City, 5-2, behind a superb combined pitching effort delivered from The Green Monsters’ ace José “Guero” Mendoza, and their long-arm reliever Matt “Matty Ice” Bjornstad, coupled with a killer big-time grand slam home run belted by Iván “Big Kat” Rodríguez.
Next, I want to give mad props to Park View’s incredibly clever and bright coaching staff which made the following two brilliant moves on Thursday:
First, the coaches moved Aidan Skinner into the starting lineup, and placed that hot hitter fifth in the batting order, as I figured they would even before I had asked them to do so. In fact, I had only asked because I had assumed that they had already penciled in Skinner, as the Park View coaches are way ahead of me. Now, why can’t my Anaheim Ducks hire a coaching staff that is so brilliant? It is such a relief to finally root for a team directed by a great coaching staff after suffering for the past year as a Ducks fan, frustrated by terrible coaching decisions.
Second, and oh baby was this move clever, they started Mendoza on the mound, but as soon as Park View built a very comfortable four-run lead, BOOM!, out came the hook, and Guero was gone. As he faced his final Temple City batter when the ace had thrown less than 50 pitches, Mendoza is now eligible to start Sunday’s “if necessary” game should The Green Monsters even need to play that day. Wow! How brilliant. Park View used its ace on Thursday to pick up the victory, and may still start him on Sunday if necessary. Take a bow, coaching staff. Nice work!
So, never mind what I had written before about who to pitch in a potential “if necessary” game, as I had not imagined that Mendoza would still be available on Sunday. And, ladies and gentlemen, the reason I am confident The Green Monsters will win the SoCal championship is precisely because Guero and Kainoa “Island Prime” Baptista are both available for Sunday. Together, those two hot pitchers form a brick wall that no team will penetrate. Simple as.
Mendoza on Thursday continued to dominate his opponents, this time delivering 2 1/3 innings of shutout ball, without giving up any hits, and recording five strikeouts. Guero is now 5-0 this summer, and those five include wins over solid hitting teams such as Chula Vista’s Eastlake Little League, Bonita’s Sweetwater Valley Little League, and San Diego’s San Carlos Little League. Mendoza is the real deal.
Matty Ice took over for Guero with one out in the third inning, and from there, went the distance to preserve Park View’s victory. At the plate, the night belonged to Big Kat who smacked the second-inning grand slam and finished the night with three hits.
(Players on Chula Vista’s Park View Little League swarm home plate to congratulate Iván Rodríguez after he put The Green Monsters in the lead for good with a grand slam home run in the second inning Tuesday night at Aliso Viejo Little League in Aliso Viejo. Photo courtesy of Jon “All around good guy” Bigornia.)
Big Kat’s blast gave Park View a big 4-0 lead over Temple City that it never relinquished. To reference lyrics from the 1980s rock band The Call, The Green Monsters gave a “blow to the Temple, and knocked it to the ground.”
With the victory, Park View improved its record to a perfect 10-0 this summer, the only undefeated team remaining in all of Southern California which started its tournament last month with more than 300 teams competing.
Meanwhile, Huntington Beach’s team on Thursday eliminated El Segundo Little League of El Segundo, 13-0, in four innings on a 10-run mercy rule, to clinch a do-or-die rematch for Friday night against Temple City. The loser of Friday night’s game goes home, while the winner will face The Green Monsters in the SoCal Championship game on Saturday at 6 pm PDT. If the monsters win that game, then they will go to San Bernardino. But, if they lose on Saturday, then they will bring out their brick wall for a one-game winner-take-all contest on Sunday. Until then, stay tuned !!
Let’s Go SoCal !!
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